Counter stiffener



M. L. DODGE,

COUNTER STIFFENERI APPLICATION FILED MAY25,1918RE\EWED AUG. 15,1922.

1 9 QSQ, 1 5 8 Paiented Sept 26, 19220 Patented Sept, .26, 19 22 MILTON L'. DODGE, or NEWBURYPORT, messacrrnsnrrs.

COUNTER- S'ILIEFENEB.

Application file d May 25, 1918, Serial No. 236,497.

To ex 20 from it may concern Be it known that I, Mir/run L. Doncn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newburyport, in thecounty of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Counter Stif of which the following is a speciza'and the upper are lasted wrong-side out,

and, by a suitable sewing-machine, the two elements are sewed together, the stitches pass'ng through the 'baseof the channel flap. The sole is formed with a feather or reduced edge, and, when a molded counter stiffener is placed upright and secured on the sole, it rests upon the face thereof, so

that a space is left between the heel-seat flange and the. feather. Hence, when the last is withdrawn and the shoe is turned, a relatively wide crack or grin is formed between the upper and the sole at the heel portion of the shoe. To overcome this serious objection to the use of molded counter stiffeners, especially in the manufacture of turn shoes, my improved counterstiffener is provided at the junctionof the heel-seat flange and the upright or side wall thereof with a hollow downwardly-projecting rib or bead to rest .upon the feather or reduced ed e;

n the drawings, a molded counter stiffener is shown, having an upright or side wall forming the wings 10, and a heel-seat flange 11, the ends of which may be lapped and secured together by a fastener as shown. At the curved line of junction of the said flange and the wall, and hence at the outer margin of said flange there is a continuous downwardly-extending rib or head 12, which,

when the stiffener is upright, projects below provide the feather or reduced edge of Renewed August '15, 1922. Serial No. 582,070.

the raised face of the flange. In forming the shoe, the sole 13 (which is rabbetted to desired thickness andthe shoulder 141, and which has the usual channel and the channel flap l5) and the upper 16 including the lining are assembled inside-out upon the last 17, and, after the upper has been prided over or otherwise stretched and temporarily lasted, they are sewed together by any suit able turn-shoe-sewing machine. The curved needle enters the channel, and the stitches 18 pass through the base of the flap and emerge at the corner formed by the feather 11 and the shoulder 141 of the sole, and draw the upper tightly into the corner and overthe feather or reduced edge. After the sewing and the trimming operations are completed and while the last is still in the partially formed shoe, the counter stiffener is placed upright on the face of the solo at the heel end, so that the bead or rib fits in and rests upon the feather (and the edge I of the upper thereon), and the raised inner portion of the heel-seat flange rests on the face of the sole. Then, by suitable fastenings passed through the heel-seat flange into the sole, the stiffener is secured againstdislocation. The last is now withdrawn and the shoe is turned toenclose the stiffener after which the lining at the heel portion of the upper is overlapped upon the inner face of the stiffener, and is secured.

By the provisionof the rib or head at the outer margin of the, heel-seat flange,

whichis less in width than the feather and substantially equal in depth to the height of the shoulder, the stiffener is enabled to fit closely both on the feather and on the in ner face of the sole, so as to leave no gap between the edge of the sole and the counter stiffener or between the edge of the sole and the upper. This feature of the invention is especially valuable in those shoes in which a'wooden heel is used, since the inflexibility of such heels accentuates the grinning at the heel end of the shoe when an ordinary molded counter stiffener is employed.

While I have described my improved counter as especially" valuable when used, in the manufacture of turn shoes, I desire to have it understood that it may be also employed in the manufacture of McKay, welt or other footwear.

Having thus explained the nature of my said invention and described a way of making'and using the same, although without attempting tosetforth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use, what I- claim is:

1. Asa new article of manufacture, a

- -m0lded counter-stiffener, .comprising a side wall, and aninwardly-projecting heel-seat flange integral therewith, the material of the flange adjacent said well being depressed to forma downwardly-projecting 2. As a new' molded counter stiffener, comprising a side wall, an inwardly-projecting heel se'at flange integral therewith, and a downwardly-projecting rib positioned on the lower face of said flange nearits outeredge and adaptedto rest upon the inturned edge of the'upper. o

-3. As a new article of'n'lanufacture, a

molded counter stiffener having a heel-seat flange-formed with a downwardly "projecting hollow rib at the outer margin thereof-t0 rest upon'the-inturned edge of 'theupper, and with a'raised inner portion 7 to rest against the inner faceof the sole; article of manufacture, a;

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature.

' MILT N L'.ponen]- 

